Link budget considerations for automotive 5G LEO satellite-based communications

Abstract

Satellite communication receives strongly increasing attention for automated and connected driving. Compact size, low power consumption, and high data rates are key performance parameters for such systems. Based on realistic assumptions on user equipment terminal and satellite antenna for low-earth orbiting satellites using large space structures, we present relevant link budget considerations. The high-gain satellite antenna opens the potential to employ compact user equipment antennas of moderate gain and without beam tracking. We study selected C-, Ku-, and Ka-frequency bands for 5G satellite communications based upon usual key performance indicators. Our findings indicate that C-band and Ka-band offer a suitable spectrum, with an uplink data rate of 7 Mbit/s at Ka-band, which is suitable for IoT and broadband mobile access applications.